Saturday, September 19, 2009

In 1983, while in Oklahoma, I bought a post card with a drawing of a red head with the letters Chez-Panisse at the bottom. The image was very pleasing, so I brought it with me when I was assigned aboard ship, and taped it on the bulkhead by my rack.

Two years later in San Diego I found a poster for a hand made clothing store that I couldn't stop looking at. I loved the design and the colors, and after leaving the gallery, went back in and bought it. The problem at the time was trying to figure out how to store it while living onboard, but I went out of my way for this one.

Later in 1987 a friend lent me a graphics magazine thinking I would be interested in one of the articles. I was, but not for the one she intended.

The piece I liked was about an artist who printed his own work, and showed each step from conception to the finished poster. I found the work pleasing the minute I saw it, but the signature block at the bottom of the poster looked very familiar. Not realizing it, both the post card and the poster I bought years ago were created by the same person.

So of course I had to make an effort to meet this guy, and in 1991 I did. He was quite nice, and very interesting. His work can be seen here, and an interview can be read here.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Without a doubt, 1984 has been my favorite year (so far).I saw the world, met my wife, compact discs came out,and so did a really great comic book called Mister X.

Not only did the cover catch my eye, but the stories werewritten and drawn by the Hernandez Brothers, along withstrong graphic design throughout the entire series.

But as much as I loved it, some people around referred to it as "thebiggest disappointment in comics." It seems there was a lot of production work these people saw before the book was actually published, and didn't feel it lived up to what was shown earlier. Most of it was created by Paul Rivoche, and thanks to the internet you can see it here.

The plan was to use a different set of cartoonists for every six issuesthen another story line would be introduced. Unfortunately, theHernandez Brothers never got paid and left after four fantastic issues,which was disappointing. The series went on, and the creatorDean Motter did another great series along the same line calledTerminal City and it's follow up Terminal City: Aerial Graffitiwith artist Michael Lark, which is worth reading as well.•